Hmmm...I'll throw in my thoughts. As a rule, you have to be aware that if you wanna be objective about how Kuwait ranks vs other countries in the GCC, you have to limit your bias. HolyPizza, you're an atheist and anti-conservative aka your values clash with Islamic values. You aren't in a position to be objective because of this.

Being "progressive" isn't really good. It's a slippery slope, and a lot of the so called progressive/liberal movement is driven by people with agendas in Hollywood. Media has a tremendous impact on people's values over time, this is imperative to understand.

Kuwait is Kuwait, it doesn't need Westernization in every aspect. What should we be judging our country on instead? Probably the more important aspects of society: the power-difference between people, corruption, crime, benefits and law application.

As a lot of people say, Kuwait is good at planning but not the implementation. We spin our wheels! This is a huge thing, and yes, we may be dead last in the GCC when it comes to that (def among the last). This isn't a problem that is easily resolved, as there's really way too much money involved. Anti-trust and anti-corruption would help change this, as face it Kuwait is full of monopolies. It's not good when only a few control the majority of businesses and money, and newcomers are easily driven out of business. Lack of competition, general corruption...we won't be moving forward anytime soon in many areas. Basically we need more diversity and competition.

These type of things are what we need to be scoring, not how easy alcohol is to access or if we tolerate gays or not. We are a Muslim country, afterall.